The work of which I here offer an English translationhas excited, among the Dutch and German literary societies, a keencontroversy in regard to its authenticity—a controversy not yetbrought to a conclusion, some affirming that it contains internalevidence of truth, while others declare it to be a forgery. But eventhe latter do not insist on its being the work of a modern fabricator.They allow it to be one hundred, or perhaps one hundred and fifty,years old. If they admit that, I do not see why they refuse it agreater antiquity; and as to the improbability of the stories relatedin it, I refer the reader to the exhaustive inquiry in DrOttema’s Preface.

Is it more difficult to believe that the early Frisians, being hardyand intrepid marine adventurers, sailed to the Mediterranean, and evenproceeded farther, than that the Phœnicians sailed to England fortin, and to the Baltic for amber? or that a clever woman [vi]became a lawgiver at Athens, than that agoddess sprang, full grown and armed, from the cleft skull ofJupiter?

There is nothing in the narratives of this book inconsistent withprobability, however they may vary from some of our preconceived ideas;but whether it is really what it pretends to be—a very ancientmanuscript, or a more modern fiction—it is not the less a mostcurious and interesting work, and as such I offer it to the Britishpublic.

In order to give an idea of the manuscript, I have procuredphotographs of two of its pages, which are bound with this volume.

I have also followed Dr Ottema’s plan of printing the originalFrisian opposite to the translation, so that any reader possessing aknowledge of the language may verify the correctness of thetranslation.

In addition to the Preface which I have translated, Dr Ottema haswritten two pamphlets on the subject of the Oera Linda Book (1.Historical Notes and Explanations; 2. The Royal Academy and Het Oera Linda Bok), both of which would be

BU KİTABI OKUMAK İÇİN ÜYE OLUN VEYA GİRİŞ YAPIN!

Sitemize Üyelik ÜCRETSİZDİR!